Norman Cota

Norman Cota (30 May 1893-4 October 1971) was a Major-General of the US Army who commanded the US 28th Infantry Division during World War II.

Biography
Norman Cota was born on 30 May 1893 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Cota entered West Point in June 1913 and graduated two months ahead of schedule in 1917 due to the United States' entry into World War I, and he befriended Dwight D. Eisenhower while playing football at college. From 1918 to 1920 he was an instructor at West Point with the rank of Captain, and in 1940 he became the executive officer of the US 1st Infantry Division's 16th Infantry Regiment. In June 1942 he became the "Big Red One"'s chief-of-staff and followed it to the North Africa campaign, and he advised Terry Allen during Operation Husky in Sicily. When the time came to liberate France, he was given the job of assistant commander of the US 29th Infantry Division, and he believed that D-Day should be pre-dawn and not during the day; however, he went with the plan and landed his division on Omaha Beach. He coined the motto of the US Army Rangers, "Rangers lead the way!", while encouraging his forces to storm the beach, and he rallied all of his men who could still walk and told them to scavenge weapons from the dead and wounded and to get Bangalore torpedoes and all other weapons available to fight against the German defenses. On 12 August 1944, Cota was given command of the US 28th Infantry Division to succeed Brigadier-General James Edward Wharton, who was killed by a sniper on his first day on the job. Cota's leadership at the bloody Battle of Hurtgen Forest allowed for his regiment to triumph over the Germans, although he lost the faith of his superiors due to the loss of several US troops. Cota retired on 30 June 1946 after the end of World War II as a Major-General, and he died in 1971.